Good Bye Lenin!
Directed by	Wolfgang Becker
Produced by	Stefan Arndt
Written by	Wolfgang Becker, Bernd Lichtenberg
Starring	Daniel Brühl, Katrin Saß, Chulpan Khamatova, Maria Simon, Alexander Beyer
Music by	Yann Tiersen, Claire Pichet
Editing by	Peter R. Adam
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Classics (US)
Release date(s)	9 February 2003
Running time	121 min
Language	German
Budget	€ 4,800,000 (est.)
IMDb profile

Good Bye Lenin! is a German tragicomedy film, released internationally in 2003. It can be seen as part of the ostalgie movement. Directed by Wolfgang Becker, the cast includes Daniel Brühl, Katrin Saß, Chulpan Khamatova, Maria Simon and Florian Lukas. Wolfgang Becker was born in 1954 in Hemer/Westphalia and studied German, History and American Studies at the Free University in Berlin. ... Stefan Arndt (born 1961 in Munich, Germany) is a German film producer and managing partner of X Filme Creative Pool, which he started with fellow friends Tom Tykwer, Wolfgang Becker and Dani Levy. ... Wolfgang Becker was born in 1954 in Hemer/Westphalia and studied German, History and American Studies at the Free University in Berlin. ... Daniel César Martín Brühl González Domingo ( ); born June 16, 1978) is a German actor. ... Katrin Saß (born October 23, 1956) is a German actress. ... Chulpan Nailyevna Khamatova (Russian: Чулпа́н Наи́левна Хама́това, born October 1, 1975) is a Russian film, theater and TV actress of Tatar origin. ... Maria Simon (born 1976 in Berlin) is a German actress. ... Alexander Beyer (born June 24, 1973 in Erfurt) is a German actor. ... Yann Tiersen (born June 23, 1970) is a French Avant-Garde/New Age Musician and composer known for his versatility, minimalist compositions, and virtuosity as a multi-instrumentalist. ... Claire Pichet is a french solist signer with a particuliar and crystal clear voice. ... Sony Pictures Classics is the specialty films division of Sony Pictures. ... is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Euro (disambiguation). ... Tragicomedy refers to fictional works that blend aspects of the genres of tragedy and comedy. ... This article is about motion pictures. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ostalgie is a German term (the English equivalent would be eastalgia) referring to nostalgia for life in the former East Germany. ... Wolfgang Becker was born in 1954 in Hemer/Westphalia and studied German, History and American Studies at the Free University in Berlin. ... Daniel César Martín Brühl González Domingo ( ); born June 16, 1978) is a German actor. ... Katrin Saß (born October 23, 1956) is a German actress. ... Chulpan Nailyevna Khamatova (Russian: Чулпа́н Наи́левна Хама́това, born October 1, 1975) is a Russian film, theater and TV actress of Tatar origin. ... Maria Simon (born 1976 in Berlin) is a German actress. ...

Story overview

To protect his fragile mother from a fatal shock after a long coma, Alex must keep her from learning that her beloved state of East Germany, as she knew it, has collapsed. For other uses, see Coma (disambiguation). ... This article is about the state which existed from 1949 to 1990. ...

Cast

• Daniel Brühl – Alexander Kerner
• Katrin Saß – Christiane Kerner
• Chulpan Khamatova – Lara
• Maria Simon – Ariane Kerner
• Florian Lukas – Denis Domaschke
• Alexander Beyer – Rainer
• Burghart Klaußner – Alex's father
• Michael Gwisdek – Klapprath
• Christine Schorn – Frau Schäfer
• Jürgen Holtz – Herr Ganske
• Jochen Stern – Herr Mehlert
• Ernst-Georg Schwill as the taxi-driver
• Stefan Walz – a taxi-driver who looks very much like, or who may actually be, Sigmund Jähn
• Eberhard Kirchberg – Dr. Wagner
• Hans-Uwe Bauer – Dr. Mewes
• Nico Ledermüller – Alexander Kerner (11 years old)
• Jessica Dudley – Sigmund Jähn

Daniel César Martín Brühl González Domingo ( ); born June 16, 1978) is a German actor. ... Katrin Saß (born October 23, 1956) is a German actress. ... Chulpan Nailyevna Khamatova (Russian: Чулпа́н Наи́левна Хама́това, born October 1, 1975) is a Russian film, theater and TV actress of Tatar origin. ... Maria Simon (born 1976 in Berlin) is a German actress. ... Alexander Beyer (born June 24, 1973 in Erfurt) is a German actor. ... Sigmund Werner Paul Jähn (born February 13, 1937) was the first German cosmonaut. ...

Plot

The film is set in East Berlin in 1989. Alexander Kerner lives with his mother Christiane and sister Ariane in a small apartment. His father (a doctor) has fled to the West, apparently abandoning the family. In his absence, Alex's mother, Christiane, has become an ardent supporter of the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany. When she sees Alex being arrested in an anti-government demonstration, she suffers a near-fatal heart attack and falls into a coma shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall. After eight months she awakes, but is severely weakened both physically and mentally. Her doctor says that any shock may cause another, possibly fatal, attack. Alex realizes that her discovery of recent events would be too much for her to bear, and so sets out to maintain the illusion that things are as normal in the German Democratic Republic. To this end, he and Ariane return the previous drab decor to the apartment, dress in their old clothes, and feed the bed-ridden Christiane new, Western produce from old labeled jars. Their deception is successful, albeit becoming increasingly complicated and elaborate. Christiane occasionally witnesses strange occurrences, such as a gigantic Coca-Cola advertisement banner unfurling on a building outside the apartment. With his friend, a would-be filmmaker, Alex edits old tapes of East German news broadcasts and creates fake special reports on occasion to explain odd events away. Since the old news shows were fairly predictable, and Christiane's memory is a bit hazy, she is initially fooled. East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. ... Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar). ... The party emblem represented the handshake between Communist Wilhelm Pieck and Social Democrat Otto Grotewohl when their parties merged in 1946 The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) (German: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands) was the governing party of East Germany from its formation in 1949 until the elections of 1990. ... View in 1986 from the west side of graffiti art on the walls infamous death strip Walls poster in memory of the fall. ... This article is about the state which existed from 1949 to 1990. ... The wave shape (known as the dynamic ribbon device) present on all Coca-Cola cans throughout the world derives from the contour of the original Coca-Cola bottles. ... - Aktuelle Kameras opening (English: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, its Current Camera — The Headlines. ...

Christiane eventually gains strength and wanders outside one day while Alex is asleep. She sees all her neighbors' old furniture piled up in the street for garbage collection, a car dealer selling BMWs instead of Trabants and advertisements for Western corporations. However, Alex and Ariane quickly find her, take her home, and show her a fake special report that East Germany is now accepting refugees from the West following an economic crisis. Christiane, initially skeptical, finally decrees that as good Socialists they should open their home to these newcomers. For other uses, see BMW (disambiguation). ... This article is about the automobile. ...

However, Christiane relapses one day and is taken back to the hospital. Under pressure to reveal the truth about the fall of the East, Alex creates a final fake news segment. He convinces a taxi driver to identify himself as Sigmund Jähn, who in the segment becomes the new leader of East Germany, and gives a speech promising to make a better future by opening the borders to the West. Christiane is very impressed by the "broadcast," but in fact already knows the truth, as Alex's girlfriend revealed everything when he was not around. The tables are turned completely, and it is Alex who is being protected from reality. Christiane dies soon afterwards, but not before seeing her husband one last time. It is revealed that he wanted the family to join him in West Berlin. However, Christiane, fearing the government would take away Alex and Ariane, had gotten cold feet and therefore chose to stay in the East. Sigmund Werner Paul Jähn (born February 13, 1937) was the first German cosmonaut. ...

Soundtrack

Main article: Good Bye Lenin! (soundtrack album)

The music is composed by Yann Tiersen with the exception of Summer 78 sung by Claire Pichet. Stylistically, the music is very similar to Tiersen's prior work on Amélie (in fact one piano composition is in both films), but is missing Amélie's trademark accordion waltzes. Good bye, Lenin! is the original soundtrack album of the film of the same title starring Daniel Brühl and Katrin Saß. The music is composed by Yann Tiersen, with the exception of the non-instrumental version of Summer 78 sung by Claire Pichet. ... Yann Tiersen (born June 23, 1970) is a French Avant-Garde/New Age Musician and composer known for his versatility, minimalist compositions, and virtuosity as a multi-instrumentalist. ... Claire Pichet is a french solist signer with a particuliar and crystal clear voice. ... Amélie is the soundtrack or original score to the French motion picture Amélie. ...

Several famous GDR songs are sung and heard. Two children, purportedly members of the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation, sing Unsere Heimat (Our Homeland). Friends of Christiane (living in the same building) follow with Bau Auf! Bau Auf!, another anthem, of the Free German Youth. The final fake newscast with Sigmund Jähn features a rousing crescendo of the GDR national anthem, Auferstanden aus Ruinen. The Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation, consisting of the Young Pioneers and the Thälmann Pioneers, was a youth organisation of schoolchildren aged 6 to 14, in East Germany. ... The Free German Youth (Freie Deutsche Jugend or FDJ) was the official youth movement of the government of the German Democratic Republic. ... Auferstanden aus Ruinen (Risen from the Ruins) was the national anthem of East Germany (German Democratic Republic, German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, DDR). ...

References to other films

• Much confusion was caused by Denis's t-shirt, which appeared to bear the green glyph pattern from The Matrix. The Matrix appeared in 1999, whereas the film was set between 1989 and 1990. A deleted scene on the DVD eventually solved this mystery. The scene featured Denis, an amateur film-maker, telling Alex about his idea for a film, where people were enslaved by machines to produce energy for them while they were trapped in a computer dream world - an obvious reference to the aforementioned film. There is a common theme of keeping people in a simulated reality.
• Alexander Beyer, who plays Rainer, Ariane's wayward boyfriend, also played a major role in the previous blockbuster "Ostalgie" film, Sonnenallee in 1999. In Good Bye Lenin!, he plays a former West German inhabitant who constantly mocks the former East German inhabitants, but eventually lends a helping hand by buying a Trabant. In Sonnenallee, he played an East German who constantly made fun of West Germans.
• In the hospital scene after Christiane has her nervous breakdown, Ariane is shown in a chair solemnly playing a dirge on a child's plastic recorder while her comatose mother lies beside her. The tune she plays is a variation on Zbigniew Preisner's "Song for the Unification of Europe". This is an homage to (or perhaps a parody of) a similar hospital scene in Krzysztof Kieślowski's Three Colors: Blue.
• The film includes scenes from East German children's programs including Sandmännchen. News programs, such as Aktuelle Kamera and other GDR programs, are subtly mentioned in the film.
• There are at least two homages paid to Stanley Kubrick. The scene with the wedding cake is a direct reference to the famous bone scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey, with Denis mentioning it as such; also, the scene when Alex and his friend set up his mother's bedroom is a reference to the sex scene in A Clockwork Orange, with Rossini's William Tell Overture being played on both occasions. The name of the main character in A Clockwork Orange is also Alex.
• The scene with a flying Lenin statue recalls a similar scene with flying Jesus in Fellini's film La Dolce Vita and a scene with a Lenin statue being carted away in Kieślowski's The Double Life of Véronique.

This article is about the 1999 film. ... Simulated reality is the idea that reality could be simulated — often computer-simulated — to a degree indistinguishable from true reality. ... Alexander Beyer (born June 24, 1973 in Erfurt) is a German actor. ... Sonnenallee is a 1999 comedy film about life in East Berlin in the 1970s. ... Events of 2008: (EMILY) Me Lesley and MIley are going to China! This article is about the year. ... Zbigniew Preisner (born May 20 in Bielsko-BiaÅ‚a, 1955) is one of Polands leading film score composers, best known for his work with director Krzysztof KieÅ›lowski. ... Krzysztof KieÅ›lowski   (June 27, 1941 Warsaw, Poland – March 13, 1996 Warsaw, Poland) was an influential Oscar-nominated Polish film director and screenwriter, known internationally for his film cycles Three Colors and The Decalogue. ... Blue is the English language title of the 1993 French language film, Trois Couleurs: Bleu (available with English subtitles). ... Sandmännchen (Little Sandman) is a German childrens bedtime television programme, produced by a film technique known as stop motion animation, in which puppets are moved by very small amounts between individual frames, producing the effect of motion when the film is played back, as in conventional drawn and... - Aktuelle Kameras opening (English: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, its Current Camera — The Headlines. ... This article is about the film. ... The overture to the opera William Tell, especially its high-energy finale, is a very familiar work composed by Gioacchino Rossini. ... Alex DeLarge is a fictional character in Anthony Burgess novel A Clockwork Orange and the movie adaptation, in which he is played by Malcolm McDowell. ... Dolce Vita redirects here. ... La Double vie de Véronique (The Double Life of Véronique; Polish title, Podwójne życie Weroniki) is a 1991 French- and Polish-language film directed by Krzysztof KieÅ›lowski, co-written by KieÅ›lowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz, starring Irène Jacob, with music by Zbigniew Preisner. ...

Trivia

• Most of the scenes were shot at the Karl-Marx-Allee in Berlin and around Plattenbauten near Alexanderplatz.
• Although the East German products are accurately portrayed, many of the western products in the film are shown in packaging different from that used in 1990, including Jacobs Krönung coffee, Heinz ketchup, Pepsi Light, and Coca-Cola light.
• The logo of the satellite TV company Thomas and Alex work for bears a strong resemblance to the hammer and sickle.
• The stills show on the spliced news broadcast referring to West German drug addiction are the actual police photos of the deaths of certain real-life characters mentioned in the biography of Christiane F (later filmed as Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo) and originally published in Stern.
• Alex has a poster of the East German band Silly on his wall.

Karl-Marx-Allee, towards Strausberger Platz. ... Modernized Plattenbau in Rostock Original East German Plattenbau like it was built in 1980 Plattenbau is the German word for a building whose structure is constructed of large, prefabricated concrete slabs. ... Alexanderplatz from the Fernsehturm   is a large open square and public transport hub in Berlin city centre, near the river Spree and the Berliner Dom, at . Berliners often call it simply Alex. ... H. J. Heinz Company (NYSE: HNZ), commonly known as Heinz, famous for its 57 Varieties slogan, is a processed food product company with its headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States of America. ... Pepsi Light was a sugar-free, low-calorie cola with lemon flavor introduced by PepsiCo, Inc. ... Diet Coke (sometimes known as Diet Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Light or Coke Light) is a sugar-free soft drink produced and distributed by The Coca-Cola Company. ... For other uses, see Hammer and sickle (disambiguation). ... Christiane F. (full name Christiane Vera Felscherinow), was born in West Berlin on May 20, 1962. ... {{dablink|For other meanings, see Stern (disambiguation). ... Silly is an East German rock group from the 80s and 90s. ...

See also

• The Legend of Rita, an earlier film of Ostalgie.
• Spreewald gherkins, one of the foods Christiane wants.

There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ...

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Good Bye Lenin!

• Official site (in German)
• DVD Review of film
• Promotional website in English
• Good Bye Lenin! at the Internet Movie Database
• Good Bye Lenin! at Rotten Tomatoes